All Souls Day 2025

On this All Souls’ Day, the families of the disappeared gather not before graves, but before one another; bound by memory, love, and the unbroken hope for truth and justice. With no graves to visit, this day is marked by the warmth of shared remembrance. In coming together, the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) affirms that even in the absence of physical resting places, the memory of our disappeared loved ones lives powerfully within us and in our collective struggle. Today, as we honor those disappeared from us, we engage in an act of defiance against forgetting. Our solidarity becomes the space where remembrance is resistance and our grief transforms into strength.

 

We also recognize that enforced disappearances persist, with FIND having on record 56 cases under the current administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr as of September 2025. Families continue to search, to speak, and to fight, often against indifference and impunity. The courage required of this stands as a testament to the enduring human spirit that seeks truth and justice and demands accountability. Today, with all the families of the disappeared, we call not only for justice but also for a society that upholds the dignity and rights of all.

 

The struggle against enforced disappearance perseveres in a time when corruption, social injustice, and inequality continue to ail our nation. Yet amidst this turmoil, families of the disappeared symbolize what it means to hope, which is to envision a world where no one is made to disappear, where truth is not buried, and where justice is not denied.

 

Today, as we commemorate All Souls’ Day, we remember together. We remember in solidarity, in struggle, and in love. Though there are no graves to visit, there is a community that keeps the flame alive, one that refuses to forget and continues to fight for a more just and humane world.